Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

The only good analogy I have ever heard for the swim start of the Age group Ironman is "imagining yourself as a sock in the washing machine with a load of tennis shoes" To say that the start is violent and anxious is an understatement. However, most people are not trying to hurt each other and everyone is actually pretty nice. It's just a limited space for too many type "A" personalities to occupy at one time. No one wants to get passed. So, I positioned myself right in the middle along the beach and about 3 people back from the front. The count down started and I took several deep breaths and then the gun went off. All at once, a mass of black wetsuits started moving forward to the ocean. Getting through the initial waves and shallow water was not nearly as hard this time as we had caught a break and the surf was calm and flat. I was able to get into the water easily and up to speed with very little trouble or contact. There is a little sand bar about 50 yards out that caused everyone to stop swimming and walk for a few feet then back to the swim. After that, the jousting for position began in earnest. I tried to stay about 25 yards to the right of the buoys since we had a definite right to left tide. People were swimming all over the place, right to left, left to right, over each other, under each other, banging, hitting, pulling, etc. Just your normal IM start. I swam with wide elbows and kicked when I had too to keep my space open and I actually found a good rhythm and pocket of swimmers to draft off of around the first turn. Once we made the turn we swam into a ton of jellyfish floating close to the surface. I was swimming in the draft of the guys in front so I didn't see the jellies until they wrapped around my right arm. I was wearing a sleeveless wetsuit so I felt the sting instantly and tried to shake it off as best I could to continue on. I thought this one incident would effect me much more later but that was really it. Done and gone. 1-2 minutes of stinging and then I forgot about it. Unfortunately, I lost the great feet that I swimming behind and spent the rest of the 1st lap trying to find another group. The swim in was harder as the main group started to spread out and that massive man-made current started to succumb to the ocean current. I finished lap #1 in 32:30 and felt good about where I was. Lap #2 was harder as we had to get out, walk/run along the beach and then wade back in and do another lap. The main group had broken up so much that I spent a lot of time finding myself in "no man's land" with no one to swim behind. So, I spent too much energy swimming through the water on my own and trying to bridge the gap. Not bad but I did slow down without all those good feet. Lap #2 was 36:ish and the last length was by far the slowest as I had trouble staying comfortable in my wetsuit with the chaffing on my neck. Overall, I was very pleased with the swim. For the amount of effort (swimming 1-2x/week) I put in during training I was able to set a personal record in the Ironman swim. I was 1:35 faster than '06 and :07 faster than '08.

More speed and technique workouts in a group environment. I don't think I pushed myself to swim as fast as I can. I swam a lot in open water by myself and didn't ever pick-up any speed.

T1 seemed like a long way for me this time. I had trouble getting my bag due to all the competitors arriving at the same time. Once I found it, it was a jog across transition to the changing tent, which was PACKED with people trying to find a place to sit and change or trying to pack-up and get out the door. I thought I was prepared here but I struggled to get things on while wet and I didn't want to forget to bring warm clothes since it was cold and windy. Getting out of the changing tent was just as hard, jumping over bags and dodging people and then just trying to get out the door was crazy. With so many people coming into T1 at the same time, the volunteers were running around like wild animals trying to help. I had to go all the way across transition again to get my bike and then run BACK across transition to the bike exit. It seemed I got screwed here but it was only a few minutes in the grand scheme of things. The bike mount line was a joke as people tried to get on and take off in a skinny path surrounded by screaming spectators.

Finish the swim closer to 1 hour to avoid the masses.

I am always amazed at the amount of people who take off on the bike in a Ironman like it was an Olympic distance race and cook themselves so early. I was able to get on the bike, get comfortable, start taking in nutrition and settle in relatively soon and was into a nice pace heading out into the wind when I started to get passed by large packs of people OBVIOUSLY drafting off each other. One group was so bad that I noticed the lead cyclist flick his elbow and then drop back to allow the next guy to pull the group. Karma is a good thing because at the first penalty tent, I saw that entire group 15-20 riders standing around serving out their penalties. Some people never learn or are just are cheaters at all times because I saw the majority of that group pass me again drafting as if they didn't care. I never saw them again so I am assuming they got away with it and went on to have a fast time. The bike for me was good, although slow due to my race weight being higher than in the past and a constant wind that seemed to be in my face for a good part of the day. However, what I could control was my effort and I felt I stayed within my ability and continued to take in nutrition and water and never really felt hungry or thirsty. For the first time in 3 Ironman races and too many shorter distance races, I had finally nailed the nutrition and hydration puzzle that had haunted me in the past. About 70 miles into the bike I came up on 3 guys riding side by side and chatting like it was a joy ride and came to find out they were from around Boston. They were heckling people and having a great time just talking and riding together. I talked with them for awhile and laughed as they just kept at it with each other and people who rode by. It was refreshing to have some folks out there not taking everything so seriously. I didn't see them again so I hope they had a great rest of the race and finished their first Ironman. I had no need to stop in special needs since I was carrying all my nutrition (Infinite) and just supplementing with water on the course. So, I didn't have to stop for any length of time and was able to staying moving at a good pace for a majority of the race. The ride back in began to get hard as we rode in with a cross/headwind after 100 miles of grinding. As you would imagine, around mile 90 I was ready to get off the bike and could feel the spots that were tired of rubbing and chaffing. Once back into town, we turned into a direct headwind for the last 4-5 miles and it was a real struggle to stay focused so the wind didn't blow you over. I never thought getting to the run would cause me such joy!

Lose 20 lbs.

Much better experience in T2 with a lot less people to deal with. I was also able to hand off my bike to a girl who I told to "put that bike on eBay cause I don't want to see it again" In the tent I struggled to get things moving and just couldn't move fast enough. Once dressed, I ran out to get covered in sunscreen and then had to hit the port-a-potty before running out onto the course.

Practice transitioning for an Ironman.

For those that know me this next statement is going to be kinda crazy. I felt great coming out of T2 and out on the run course! I saw Kari and the girls and stopped for a moment to say hi and give kisses and then started running with what seemed like "fresh" legs. That's right, I felt like I was starting a marathon without having done ANYTHING before it. I was on cloud 9 thinking that I could easily achieve my goal of running under 5 hours and breaking my overall time goal. After running for 5 minutes or so into that cold wind I started to experience some tightening in my chest as my asthma started to flare up. No problem, I brought my albuterol with me just like always. I walked a few feet with Tiffany around the condo and told her I had just started to struggle but I thought I would be fine after a short walk through the aid station and a puff of medicine. I didn't realize until a mile later that the albuterol was out and I was stuck with a situation that was getting worse. What sucked the most was that my legs felt GREAT and I actually felt better running. I just couldn't breath and after a few minutes of running I had to stop and walk cause I couldn't breath. For those who have no idea of what it's like to have asthma, try running a marathon and breath with a pillow over your mouth. At mile 3 or 4 an EMT was treating a lady who had fallen down saw me coming up and walked up to me asking if I was ok. I guess I looked bad struggling with my breathing. I said I was having asthma issues and he said I would have to drop out of the race if he helped me. I told him to not touch me under any circumstances and that I would just walk for a while to try and calm down. Right after that I texted Kari (yes, I took my phone with me on the run and I am glad I did!). I needed a new albuterol or my race was done. Kari and the girls got in the truck and tried to find me out on the course but were not able to get to me until mile 8 due to traffic and the way the course winds through neighborhoods and state park roads. Unfortunately for me, the damage was done by that point and any sustained running effort was just not possible at that point. I might have been able to recover if I had checked the albuterol before the race but it was a mistake that I made after so many races without having the need for it and it cost me my PR run. I am good with that since it was something that I could control and not some external factor. Another mistake that I made was trying to walk too fast while waiting for Kari to find me. I had not trained to do that and my shins and back of knees were so sore that I could not run when my breathing returned. I was determined to finish my last Ironman even though I figured out that I was going to miss my goal after such a great day. It's funny what the mind does after that long into a race to convince you to back off or drive forward. All I could do was walk and think about what could have been. But somewhere around mile 15 I started to notice that I was seeing people who were struggling just like me and I struck up conversations as we all tried to help each other keep on keeping on. Some of us stayed together, some moved on, some dropped back. But all of us kept moving forward. "Unrelenting forward momentum" my friend Pam said. FYI, if you are watching an Ironman, please don't say you are almost there at mile 22. It might seem close to you but it's not. I finally made the turn onto the final road and came up to my friends Richard and Tiffany. They walked with me for about a half mile to make sure I was ok and then I told them that I needed to slowly jog it in. The final push to the finish line is long and dark but you do get to run to a loud and rocking finish line. The Ironman finish line is hard to describe. After a long day in your own head and just part of the masses, the finish line is like "your" time to celebrate a finish to this crazy event. For the first time in 3 IM's, I made sure that I took my time going through the finisher line by giving high-5's on both sides of the line and just soaking in the finish. I never even looked at the clock. From that point on, it didn't matter how much I hurt. I had just finished my 3rd Ironman and I had nothing else to give.

Make sure I had a NEW albuterol canister with me before going out on the run.

Walked around and took pictures with the family and then had a nice 30 minute massage.


Weight and asthma.


I love this race but I am now retired from Ironman racing. 3.0 and go.